The Bible

 

Amos 5

Study

   

1 Audite verbum istud, quod ego levo super vos planctum : domus Israël cecidit, et non adjiciet ut resurgat.

2 Virgo Israël projecta est in terram suam, non est qui suscitet eam.

3 Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus : Urbs de qua egrediebantur mille, relinquentur in ea centum ; et de qua egrediebantur centum, relinquentur in ea decem in domo Israël.

4 Quia hæc dicit Dominus domui Israël : Quærite me, et vivetis.

5 Et nolite quærere Bethel, et in Galgalam nolite intrare, et in Bersabee non transibitis, quia Galgala captiva ducetur, et Bethel erit inutilis.

6 Quærite Dominum, et vivite (ne forte comburatur ut ignis domus Joseph, et devorabit, et non erit qui extinguat Bethel :

7 qui convertitis in absinthium judicium, et justitiam in terra relinquitis) :

8 facientem Arcturum et Orionem, et convertentem in mane tenebras, et diem in noctem mutantem ; qui vocat aquas maris, et effundit eas super faciem terræ ; Dominus nomen est ejus :

9 qui subridet vastitatem super robustum, et depopulationem super potentem affert.

10 Odio habuerunt corripientem in porta, et loquentem perfecte abominati sunt.

11 Idcirco, pro eo quod diripiebatis pauperem, et prædam electam tollebatis ab eo, domos quadro lapide ædificabitis, et non habitabitis in eis ; vineas plantabis amantissimas, et non bibetis vinum earum.

12 Quia cognovi multa scelera vestra, et fortia peccata vestra : hostes justi, accipientes munus, et pauperes deprimentes in porta.

13 Ideo prudens in tempore illo tacebit, quia tempus malum est.

14 Quærite bonum, et non malum, ut vivatis ; et erit Dominus Deus exercituum vobiscum, sicut dixistis.

15 Odite malum et diligite bonum, et constituite in porta judicium : si forte misereatur Dominus Deus exercituum reliquiis Joseph.

16 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus exercituum, dominator : In omnibus plateis planctus ; et in cunctis quæ foris sunt, dicetur : Væ, væ ! et vocabunt agricolam ad luctum, et ad planctum eos qui sciunt plangere.

17 Et in omnibus vineis erit planctus, quia pertransibo in medio tui, dicit Dominus.

18 Væ desiderantibus diem Domini ! ad quid eam vobis ? Dies Domini ista, tenebræ, et non lux.

19 Quomodo si fugiat vir a facie leonis, et occurrat ei ursus ; et ingrediatur domum, et innitatur manu sua super parietem, et mordeat eum coluber.

20 Numquid non tenebræ dies Domini, et non lux ; et caligo, et non splendor in ea ?

21 Odi, et projeci festivitates vestras, et non capiam odorem cœtuum vestrorum.

22 Quod si obtuleritis mihi holocautomata, et munera vestra, non suscipiam ; et vota pinguium vestrorum non respiciam.

23 Aufer a me tumultum carminum tuorum ; et cantica lyræ tuæ non audiam.

24 Et revelabitur quasi aqua judicium, et justitia quasi torrens fortis.

25 Numquid hostias et sacrificium obtulistis mihi in deserto quadraginta annis, domus Israël ?

26 et portastis tabernaculum Moloch vestro, et imaginem idolorum vestrorum, sidus dei vestri, quæ fecistis vobis.

27 Et migrare vos faciam trans Damascum, dicit Dominus : Deus exercituum nomen ejus.

   

Commentary

 

Earth

  
by Brita Conroy

Earth" is a general word that can be thought of as a container for other more specific words, as ground, field, or garden. Each of these means a person in an ascending series as that person learns truths from the Bible, thinks about them, and tries to apply them to life. The series represents the way of becoming good and wise. "Earth" and "ground" are terms that can go either way, as in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:4-8) there was both good ground and bad ground, but "field" and "garden" mean minds that are regenerating towards good. "Earth" in the Bible can mean a person or a group of like-minded people as in a church. But it refers specifically to the external of the person's mind, or of the general thought of the group. If heaven and earth are mentioned together, then both the internals and externals of the mind are meant – something to note when reading the creation story.

In Revelation the word "earth" is used both as a ground level as we use it in its natural sense and also as the sense of a group. The action in this book takes place in the great middle zone of the spiritual world, where people first go and where they are sorted out. There are both evil people and good there, and sometimes at the end of a church the evil can have great influence before a great judgment comes. This level of the spiritual realm is called the "earth" to which the dragon was cast down (Revelation 12:9) and to which the stars fell (Revelation 12:4). The "earth" that swallowed the dragon’s flood means those still-sincere people within the church who discounted the flood of the dragon's falsities (Revelation 12:15).